275. Attend therapy 5 times

 

It was only until recently that I accepted that my old therapist wasn't scamming me and was actually real. This was when I found an interview of her online. I have to say therapy is strange. The point evades me but one holds true - desabafar: to unload your troubles onto someone else.

It feels freeing opening up to someone at first but after session two or three the point of therapy seems strange. I recognise quite easily where I am in my life and where I need to be. What do I need the therapist for?

154. Help an old person with something

 

I think in my head this would be an action for a neighbour that would result in a friendship. Instead it was a 15 min intervention that yes, positively impacted the life of the poor man but only briefly.

I was walking up the hill to my house when I noticed him slumped over a bollard, bag in tow. I stopped and asked him if he needed help in Portuguese. My language skills are rusty but he accepted and we walked up the hill together, bag now in my hand, him by my side. It took some time but we reached his door. At the door he offered to pay me some coins but I replied "I have a grandpa, please no thank you." This confused him slightly but he walked into the entry and up to his house whilst I stayed by the front door and left.

142. Stay in a stranger's home (not a complete stranger)

 

When completing a visit to the UK I decided to save money in Edinburgh and rent a room instead of a private one or flat on Airbnb. The host was a lady called Liz who lived alone and was quite a bit older than myself.

I arrived in the daytime to a very quiet part of Edinburgh. Most definitely the suburbs. Liz welcomed me inside quite sleepily with a plethora of chat. We talked over tea for a good hour about ourselves and our lives. Liz explained how she'd lived abroad for much of her young adult life and I assume met her husband there. She was in a way a bit like myself in that respect.

It's funny because I've always described myself as quiet and shy but at the end my review from Liz was that I was outgoing and open! It was such a welcome surprise I'd say it's had quiet a positive affect on my outlook of myself.

This said staying with a stranger is of course daunting but it has to be said if you're brave you really will discover another side to yourself.

255. Raise Money for a Charity

 

So far it's only a little but this year I made 4 scarves for Doctor's Without Borders. It's my first time using my own initiative to raise money for cause I feel passionately about. I guess I'm lucky I have the means to actually make and sell something successfully. 

202. Volunteer Somewhere

 

For the past month I've been volunteering once a week at a cat shelter. It's wonderful. I clean the rooms, something I've discovered I secretly love. Then I feed them, water them and play with and stroke them.

I was apprehensive before. My main concern with cats is scratching. Even though I've twice been a cat owner, I always suspected mine were somehow kinder than others. The reality is it's very easy to avoid being scratched. Even when clearing around them. That said a cat has bitten me, but no marks were left.

280. Visit Greece

Traveling to Greece as a single woman for some reason intimidated me slightly before, but I found in Athens, it's vibrant capital, that the only thing the city had in store for me was a wonderful welcome, and a feeling of wanting to come back and explore again.

I loved the capital. It reminded me of Naples at times -so hectic and alive, yet beautiful and full of new culture. Yet, it's eastern heritage also sparked memories of the Middle East - as did the landscape and azure waters. I only wish I'd contacted my internet friend whilst there, but still, traveling alone affords you the time to really get to personally know a city.

I managed to see so much. The acropolis, the island of Aegon, the markets and the food. I also fell in love the neighborhood of Koukaki where my airbnb was situated. When I return I'd like to tour the islands, but I'm happy that the capital will always be my first memory of Greece.